Planets: Formed From Dust, Gas, and Some Luck

Dr. Peter Plavchan is a planetary astronomer and has visited us before to talk about his search for extrasolar planets.

This week, he comes back to talk with us about the basic mechanisms at work in the formation of a solar system.

It is obvious that planets can form; after all our existence depends on that fact. However, what ingredients are necessary to make them? How long does it take to get planets and what kinds are there? Peter goes through the basic ideas behind the development of a solar system, from a disc to a final array of planets.